DEATH VALLEY, Calif. (AP) — Hundreds of Europeans and adventurers from across the U.S. West are still drawn to Death Valley National Park, even as a desolate region known as one of the hottest places on Earth is hit by a dangerous heat wave that’s blamed for the death of a motorcyclist over the weekend.
Tourists from France, Spain, Britain and Switzerland left their air-conditioned rental cars this week to photograph a desolate landscape that’s a stark difference from the snow-capped mountains and green hills they’re used to seeing back home. American adventurers loved the novelty, despite warnings from California park officials to vigilantly watch their safety.
A long exposure image of the thermostat at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center in Death Valley National Park, California, Sunday, July 7, 2024, taken just after 10 p.m. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
“I was excited that it was going to be so hot,” said Drew Belt of Tupelo, Mississippi, who wanted to stop in Death Valley, the lowest point in the United States, on his way to climbing California’s Mount Whitney. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It’s like walking on Mars.”
The heatwave that has swept across much of the US has also brought record temperatures to Oregon, where the state medical examiner’s office said on Tuesday six people are believed to have died. Extreme heat warnings have been issued for more than 161 million people across the US, particularly in western states.
Dozens of locations across the West and Pacific Northwest tied or broke previous heat records over the weekend, a trend that’s expected to continue this week.
In Death Valley National Park, tourists lined up to have their photos taken in front of a giant thermometer installed by the National Park Service near the visitor center. The thermometer is not very accurate, recording temperatures 1 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit higher than more modern devices installed by the nearby National Weather Service, and therefore giving more impressive readings when taking photos.
A person uses an umbrella to block the sun while waiting to have their photo taken in front of the “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign in Las Vegas, Monday, July 8, 2024. (Wade Vandervoort/Las Vegas Sun via The Associated Press)
“It’s not cited as an official temperature sensor,” said Dan Burke, warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Las Vegas.
“As you can see from the visitors behind me, this is an incredibly popular place,” park ranger Janet Jurado said Tuesday, standing next to a thermometer reading 120 degrees Fahrenheit (48.9 degrees Celsius). “But even in winter, 80 degrees in December is unusual, so some people might think it’s worth taking a photo.”
Extreme heat warnings were also issued for much of Washington and Oregon on Tuesday, with temperatures expected to reach 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 Celsius) in some areas, posing a significant risk of heatstroke, according to the National Weather Service. Parts of Idaho, including Boise, are expected to exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.7 Celsius) on Tuesday.
People set up mist tents outside the Blanchette House in downtown Portland, Oregon, during a heatwave on Monday, July 8, 2024. (Dave Killen/The Oregonian via The Associated Press)
The U.S. heatwave began after global temperatures in June reached 13 consecutive months of record highs and 12 straight months of temperatures 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than pre-industrial levels, according to the European meteorological agency Copernicus. Most of this heat trapped by human-made climate change is due to long-term warming caused by greenhouse gases emitted from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas, scientists say.
An unidentified visitor died of heatstroke on Saturday in Death Valley National Park, a scorching desert region in eastern California where temperatures reached a high of 128 degrees (53.3 C) over the weekend, and another person was hospitalized.
The park said in a statement that the two were among six motorcyclists who were traveling around Badwater Basin in scorching weather. Four others were treated at the scene. Officials said a medical emergency helicopter was unable to respond because it is not normally safe to fly in temperatures above 120 degrees Fahrenheit (48.8 degrees Celsius).
Death Valley is considered one of the world’s harshest environments. The highest officially recorded temperature on Earth was 134°F (56.67°C), recorded in Death Valley in July 1913, though some experts dispute that measurement and claim the actual record is 130°F (54.4°C), recorded in July 2021.
“It’s amazing,” Thomas Murzlik of Basel, Switzerland, said of the triple-digit heat. “When you get out of your car it feels like a wave is hitting you, but it’s very dry. It’s not like Europe.”
Thor Teigen poses in a fur jacket next to a thermometer reading 131 degrees Fahrenheit/55 degrees Celsius at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center in Death Valley National Park, California, Sunday, July 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ty O’Neill)
A stop sign warns tourists of extreme heat at Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park, California, on Monday, July 8, 2024. (Daniel Jacobi II/Las Vegas Review-Journal via The Associated Press)
Across the Nevada desert, temperatures in Las Vegas had already reached 103°F (39.4°C) by 9:30 a.m. Tuesday and are expected to approach 120°F (48.8°C) again by nightfall.
“The heat will continue to break records through the weekend but will subside as monsoon moisture returns to the region,” the National Weather Service in Las Vegas said.
In Arizona, the average temperature for the first eight days of July was the hottest on record in Phoenix and Yuma, according to the National Weather Service in Phoenix. Both cities will continue to stay about 10 degrees above normal over the next few days, with highs mostly between 112 degrees Fahrenheit (44.4 degrees Celsius) and 120 degrees Fahrenheit (48.8 degrees Celsius), the service said.
Extreme heat and prolonged drought in the West are drying out vegetation that can fuel wildfires.
In California, firefighters were battling at least 18 wildfires on Tuesday, including a 41-square-mile (106-square-kilometer) blaze in the mountains of Santa Barbara County. The Lake Fire is only 12 percent contained, and forecasters warned of a “volatile combination” of high temperatures, low humidity and northwest winds later in the day.
North of Los Angeles, the 2-square-mile (5-square-kilometer) Vista Fire devoured trees in the San Bernardino National Forest, sending up huge plumes of smoke visible across the region. A smaller but smoky blaze called the Royal Fire has scorched more than 150 acres (60 hectares) of forest west of Lake Tahoe and dropped ash on the tourist town of Truckee, California. Neither fire was contained Tuesday.
FILE – A person fills a water bottle while attending the Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland, Oregon, July 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Jenni Kayne, File)
The National Weather Service announced Tuesday that it was extending an extreme heat warning for much of the southwestern U.S. through Saturday morning.
“The abnormally high temperatures are expected to continue through Friday, after which increasing cloudiness will likely result in Saturday morning lows being the warmest of the entire time of the year,” the weather service in Reno said. “Thursday is also likely to be the overall hottest day for most of the region, so we’re not done yet.”
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Snow reported from Phoenix. Associated Press writers Becky Bohler in Juneau, Alaska, Christopher Weber and John Antczak in Los Angeles, Scott Sonner and Gabe Stern in Reno, Nevada, contributed to this report.
